Trade Minister Wanted on Corruption Charges

An arrest warrant has been issued for the Iraqi Trade Minister, Malas Abdulkarim al-Kasnazani (pictured), and his brother, on charges of financial corruption.

According to the report from AFP no details on the accusations have been issued, but local media said the Minister is suspected of awarding contracts without tenders to firms linked to his Jordan-based brother Nehru, a wealthy businessman who once had presidential aspirations.

AFP also reports that their father, a Kurd who once ran a militia backed by former president Saddam Hussein to oppose peshmerga rebels, is the leader of the largest Sufi order in Iraq, the Kasnazani order.

The Minister, a political ally of Iyad Allawi, is the highest-ranking official to be targeted in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s crackdown on corruption.